For years, I've wondered why people
bothered keeping houseplants as
pets. Plants don't respond much
to human contact and, while they
change over time, that change is
too slow to be of interest.

Lately, I've had a chance to observe
a few floral pets in bloom and realized
that they can be quite interesting.
The trick is to have so many plants
that one of them would be doing
something remarkable at any given
time. With a few carnivorous species,
such as Venus Flytrap, any feeding
time would do.

In the case of orchids, or cacti,
the remarkable is usually their
reproductive season. Tanya's
plant on the left is showing all
the relevant details for the enjoyment
of prurient minds. An entire film
called Microcosmos
was made on the subject of the survival
cycle of plants and insects. It
is worth watching.